6. Give Students Choice with Learning Menus 25

Table of Contents

THE CHALLENGES 2

1. Try an Online PD Course 3

2. Experiment with AI in Your Classroom 5

3. Facilitate a Dynamic Learning Experience 9

4. Create Interactive Learning with Add-Ons 18

5. Be Internet Awesome 23

6. Give Students Choice with Learning Menus 25

7. Publish Your Students Work for the World 33

8. Blend with InsertLearning 36

9. Pick Your Podcast PD 38

10. Create in 360° 41

11. Package Your Digital Assignments 44

12. Flatten the Walls of Your Classroom with the NEW Google Earth 49

13. Hack Google URLs 52

14. GIF It! 56

15. Teach Like the Tonight Show 63

16. Visual Thinking Made Easy 70

17. Become a Shake Up Learning Member 73

18. The Shake Up Learning Book 74

How many challenges did you complete? 75

Love this FREE book? 76

READY FOR MORE? JOIN THE 18 CHALLENGES ONLINE COURSE! 77

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 78

Welcome! I’m so glad you decided to accept this challenge, well, the series of 18 challenges designed just for teachers! We are going to have some fun on this journey in 2018!

Inside this book, you will find 18 challenges that will challenge educators to try something new in their classroom in 2018--new ideas, new apps, new features, and some fun extras along the way.

But Wait...There's More!

This year I created an online course to help you learn about each concept, idea, or app more in-depth AND earn all eighteen badges! How fun is that! The course is video-based and completely self-paced, so you can work on the challenges in any order you like throughout the year.

So if you want to go deeper into each challenge, and you prefer video tutorials instead of just reading about it, check out the 18 Challenges for Teachers in 2018 Online Course. You can also find more details about this course at the end of this book.

THE CHALLENGES

Let's dig in! You may recognize some of these ideas if you are a loyal Shake Up Learning reader. But now is your chance to take action! There are also plenty of brand new ideas that I’ll be sharing throughout the year. There is something in here for everyone, no matter what your role in education. There are strategies, concepts, apps, and ideas to help every teacher take things a step further in 2018! Are you ready?

Share Your Learning with the World! As you progress through this ebook, be sure to share your learning, ideas, lesson plans, and your enthusiasm by using the hashtag #18challenges!

Online learning is nothing new, and many of you are already using your online resources and personal learning network (PLN) to learn new skills and improve your craft as a teacher. But did you know there are thousands of online courses designed just for you? Many online professional learning courses are completely free and self-paced to help you learn what you want when you want.

I have been teaching online for several years now, but I am finding new ways to help teachers through online professional development courses. I have my own online, "school," where you can view all of the latest Shake Up Learning course offerings, including my FREE Getting Started with Google Classroom course. Some are open for enrollment all year. Others are only open for a limited time.

There's a very obvious reason why this challenge is first. I have created a companion course to walk you through each of these 18 challenges! So if you want to dig deeper and gain access to some video tutorials, additional resources, and earn some super-sweet badges, explore the possibilities of this online challenges course.

But that is not the only reason that I have included this challenge on the list. There are hundreds of other online courses to help you take your professional skills up a notch. Below are few ideas to get you started:

Courses from Tony Vincent Tony Vincent, from LearninginHand.com, offers some fabulous online workshops on various topics and delivers these through the Google Classroom platform. These are facilitated courses that are guided by Tony and only available a few times a year. Grab a seat when they open up! ● Classy Graphics Course ● Classy Videos Course

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 3 Courses from Alice Keeler Alice Keeler, "Go Slow" Online Workshops: My friend, the AH-mazing Alice Keeler, offers lots of Googley online workshops for teachers, including Google Classroom workshops, G Suite, coding, and more!

MOOCs (MOOC = Massively Open Online Courses) The Friday Institute The Friday Institute is a branch of NC State University, and they offer some amazing and FREE blended learning courses and MOOCs for educators. The course offerings cover a multitude of educational topics from Learning Differences, Foundational Reading Skills, to Coaching Digital Learning.

The Friday Institute has also begun developing a series of micro-credentials for teachers, coaches, and administrators. Learn more about this program here.

TeachersCollegeX EdX has partnered with Columbia University's Teachers College to offer some FREE online MOOCs as well, including The Science of Learning, and a course on Innovating Instruction.

Even More Options Coursera Coursera brings courses from the world’s best universities and educational institutions to the masses. Courses include recorded video lectures, auto-graded and peer-reviewed assignments, and community discussion forums. These courses range from $29-$99 and cover a wide-range of topics. A quick search for “teaching,” revealed many courses for educators, including How to Teach Online, TESOL Certification, Powerful Tools for Teaching and Learning, and many other engaging titles!

Take Challenge #1! Which online course will you take? There is no shortage of options. Take challenge number one and complete an online professional development course in 2018!

The term artificial intelligence dates back to the 1950's but has drastically accelerated in capabilities over the last few years. AI is "usually defined as the science of making computers do things that require intelligence when done by humans," (alanturning.net). Along with AI, you will also hear the term machine learning, which basically means the ability to teach machines by giving it data that allows the machine to predict your needs and tasks.

Artificial intelligence continues to get better and better. We have to get used to talking to our stuff. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are becoming a part of everyday products, and it's really important to understand the technology that is coming our way, and how it will change education as we know it. If you have never tried AI, now is the time. Or if you have only used it to ask Siri for directions, it's time to take it a step further. It's time to experiment with AI in the classroom, showing students how it works, and using some fun tools to create learning!

You can find AI in various forms and devices, and it's nothing new. AI has been around for decades, but the difference is that it has now become more accessible, easy to use, and super smart. Most likely, the smartphone you have in your hand right now has some kind of voice-enabled assistant; whether that is Siri on the iPhone or the Google Assistant on Android, it is designed to help you complete simple tasks and automate your life. But it does go deeper than that. These voice assistants are getting smarter!

The stand along smart speakers are beginning to enter classroom and show us the power that these little devices deliver. The two most popular stand alone, smart speakers are the Google Home and the Amazon Echo. But you don’t have to have one of these devices to experiment with AI. There are lots of web options as well.

Here a few ideas for using these AI voice assistants in your classroom:

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 5 ● Answering questions ○ What is the weather for tomorrow? ○ What is the capital of Alaska? ○ What is 37 times 414? ○ Tell me a riddle. ○ Tell me something interesting. ○ Set a ten-minute timer. ● Adding notes ● Setting reminders and timers ● Automating tasks

That's just the tip of the iceberg. We are now seeing many new ways to not only use AI but to teach it new skills. For instance, Google has a site of AI experiments that allow you to play with artificial intelligence and create. Explore this page to play piano duets with AI, try the teachable machine where you and your students can teach your computer new tricks with the camera, or play a game of Quick, Draw.

Here are few more ideas to try in the classroom: ● On the computer: Teachable Machine - Explore how machine learning works. Teach a machine using your camera – live in the browser, no coding required. It learns by training and running neural nets right in the browser. Help students better understand machine learning by giving this whirl! ● On the computer: Quick, Draw!: Uses machine learning to learn what you’re drawing. (It can even tell what I’m trying to draw, and I’m terrible!) ● Google Home: Mystery Animal: A Voice Experiment, it chooses an animal and plays 20 questions for you to guess what it is. ● On the computer: Quill Connect: Uses machine learning to help students combine sentences. Aligned with curriculum standards for second through seventh grades.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 6 Interactive Stories Both the Google Home and Amazon Echo have some really fun, choose your own adventure style stories. Here are a couple to check out: ● On the Echo, enable Select a Story. Then begin by saying, “Alexa, open select a story.” ● On the Google Home, Story Speaker: Create a choose your own adventure-style story in Google Docs. It’s like you’re coding/creating an AI game run by Google Assistant.

BONUS: Try a Chatbot! Chatbots are computer programs that simulate human conversation using voice or text. ● The Amazon Echo refers to these as socialbots. To try, just say, “Alexa, let’s chat, and you can have a conversation with one of the Alexa Prize socialbots. Or check out Amazon Lex to develop your own socialbot, or better yet, let your students become developers! ● On the Google Home, you can develop your own chatbots for Google, check out Actions for Google. ● Facebook is also in the chatbot game! Check out this cool little chatbot that was developed by students in a STEAM Academy.

Build with AI So not only can you develop with AI and machine learning, but you can get hands-on building actual devices. Google has released two kits: ● AIY Voice Kit - create a voice-enabled device ● AIY Vision Kit - create a camera-enabled device

AI Tips For the Classroom? ● Let them play and understand what it is capable of but set meaningful expectations on how it will be used for learning, not just telling jokes. ● Rotate the use a job/role for the class -- The AI Leader of the Day.

Additional Resources: ● Episode 31 of The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast: A Google Assistant in the Classroom

Take Challenge #2! Are you up for the AI challenge? Try just one of these ideas in your classroom in 2018. Ready to dig into some of these AI ideas?

Does your classroom offer one-and-done types of learning activities, or does the learning grow, inspire, and evolve throughout the year and beyond? With digital tools like G Suite for Education that are available 24/7, the learning doesn’t have to stop when the bell rings at the end of class, or when the worksheet is turned in, or even when the school year ends. The learning takes on a life of its own; it becomes dynamic. This concept alone should change the way you think about learning in general and change the way you facilitate learning in the classroom.

Education, just like anything else, is loaded with trends, buzzwords, and enough acronyms to create alphabet soup! We are constantly trying to find new ways to support our students, and oftentimes we are attracted to the next new thing–the next magic acronym that’s going to solve all of our problems. Teaching isn’t that simple. Teaching is much more art than science. Formulas don’t work because one size doesn’t fit all. It doesn’t fit all teachers, and it doesn’t fit all students.

Dynamic Learning Dynamic learning is learning characterized by constant change, activity, and progress. This is where learning lives, grows, connects, and extends beyond the boundaries of the class day, beyond the physical location, beyond using tools as digital substitutes, and even beyond due dates; supporting critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity skills.

Static Learning Static learning is learning that is lacking in movement, action, or change, especially in a way that is not engaging–where learning happens in short bursts and is often demonstrated in one-and-done activities, short-term assignments, or worksheets (even digital worksheets), that are confined within the traditional bounds of the school system, school day, and the school walls.

When you think DYNAMIC, I want you to think BEYOND: Beyond the Bell (a mindset) This idea of going beyond the boundary of the class day doesn’t mean homework. This is a mindset for students that means that learning can take place anytime, anywhere, and students can own it. Why shouldn’t we take advantage of this? How can we encourage students to think of learning as something that goes beyond the school day–building lifelong learners in the process, and helping students to learn and think independently?

To become a more dynamic learner, students need to take ownership of not only their learning but their time. This requires that students think beyond the “Game of School,” and realize the power they have in their hands–the power to connect FOR learning, the power to teach themselves new skills, the power to solve their own problems.

Strategies to Move Beyond the Bell: ● Discussion: Start a discussion with students about their learning. What do they like? What do they struggle with? What would they learn if they had complete control over time and place? Remember, this is more of a mindset than a specific skill.

● Learning Goals: Help students write their own learning goals, both goals aligned to what they are learning in class, but also BEYOND. What problems would they like to solve? What’s something they’ve always wanted to learn? (See Student-Created Vision Boards with Google Slides.)

Beyond the Grade Level and Subject Area As Sir Ken Robinson tells us in his TED Talk, “How Schools Kill Creativity,” the education system we have today is still based on a factory model, where students are basically placed on a conveyor belt. What they learn is dictated by their age and grade level, just what fits inside the factory “box.” Why can’t we work within the confines of the system to open up more opportunities for students to explore their own interests, give them more voice and choice, and collaborate with other teachers to create more interdisciplinary activities and projects? Let’s take kids off the conveyor belt of education and give them opportunities to learn about the things that interest them beyond the subject areas we teach, while still

Strategies to Move Beyond the Grade Level or Subject Area: ● Genius Hour: where students are given time to explore their passions and interests, learn, and create.

● Maker Projects: where students learn by doing! They can tinker, build, engineer, craft, program, and create with anything from cardboard to sophisticated technology projects.You don’t have to have a fancy Maker Space filled with expensive equipment. You can start with something as simple as a Cardboard Challenge. Also, check out this great article by Vicki Davis: How the Maker Movement is Moving into Classrooms.

● Entrepreneurial Learning: Did you know that by 2020, 40% of the workforce will be self-employed ((2017). Intuit. Retrieved 15 April 2017, from https://http-download.intuit.com/http.intuit/CMO/intuit/futureofsmallbusiness/intui t_2020_report.pdf). With little to no start-up costs, online businesses can be started by just about anyone, including students. Help cultivate entrepreneurial skills like risk-taking, practicing the art of curiosity, perseverance, problem-solving, and taking ownership of the learning and enterprise!

● Design Thinking: Design Thinking is a creative problem-solving protocol to create innovative solutions. The four phases of Design Thinking: (1) gather inspiration, (2) generate ideas, (3) make ideas tangible, and (4) share your story. IDEO’s Teacher’s Guild is a great place to start for ideas in the classroom. Also, check out this great article from Edutopia about Design Thinking in Education.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 13 Beyond the Walls Every student in every grade should have opportunities to connect and learn globally as well as publish their work online for a global audience. How many of you are bringing the outside world into your classroom through global collaboration, social media, video chats, and more? This is growing, but I don’t think every school values this the way they should.

Strategies to Move Beyond the Walls

● Globally Connect, Collaborate and Communicate: It’s simple, and it’s easy to bring the power of global collaboration into the classroom. Why can’t we tap into the experts and other classrooms around the world? Bring NASA astronauts into the Kindergarten classroom in Kalamazoo, or connect with another classroom on another continent. Just a few years ago, this meant you had to have expensive video conferencing equipment; now you just need a good Internet connection, a webcam, and a Google or Skype account. And it’s not just video conferencing; it’s learning to communicate individually and collaboratively through digital mediums. It’s discovering the culture outside the location of the school. This is the way the world operates. Let’s prepare students for a connected world.

Beyond the Tools Think beyond using digital tools to do traditional things, like typing a paper. Use digital tools to do NEW things! Just going paperless or digital isn’t enough, use tools to go further, deeper and extend the learning, and consider using tools in alternative ways–beyond their original purpose. Reach beyond what you think a digital tool can do and should be used for. Consider alternative ways that tools can be used to do new things.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 14 Strategies to Move Beyond the Tools ● Using Digital Tools to Do NEW Things: Think beyond just using Microsoft Word or Google Docs to type a paper. For instance, did you know that you can create an eBook with Google Slides? Presentation applications alone can be used for many more things than just a presentation. Matt and I even did an episode of the Google Teacher Tribe Podcast on this topic: Google Slides Can Do Whaattt??!! Think about how you and your students can get creative and use new digital tools in unexpected ways.

Consider the dreaded worksheet. Now, there may be very good, critical thinking questions on that worksheet, but once it is turned in, that’s the end of that line of thinking. Paper activities make it difficult to allow learning to grow organically and can stifle creativity. Now compare that worksheet with a Google Doc, a blog, or a website, these are tools that allow us to be more dynamic and move past simple substitution.

● Giving Students Choice: Probably one of the best ways to explore this idea is to give students choice in creating and demonstrating their learning. This will open the door to not only more creative content but creative uses of digital tools. Don’t automatically dismiss a tool because you don’t think it’s perfect for the job. Every time I have ever done this with students, a student has blown me away with an innovative use of digital tools. (Check out more ideas for choice in the Learning Menu Challenge.)

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 15 Beyond the Due Date Consider allowing students to continue the work that interests them beyond the final assessment of the assignment or task. Thinking, learning, exploring, shouldn’t be stifled simply because it was time to turn it in. I think this idea may be the one that teachers will struggle with the most. Remember, we are trying to move to more dynamic learning experiences that have less focus on the one-and-done.

Strategies to Move Beyond the Due Date With digital tools, the learning can continue to grow even after it has been officially “turned in,” and/or assessed. A Google Doc is a LIVING DOCUMENT. It doesn’t have to be forgotten. Students can continue to learn, create, and grow in different directions, going wherever their interests take them. Now, this may become an enrichment project or simply a passion project for students to work on in their have time.

● Teacher Becomes Coach or Mentor: This is where the role of the teacher becomes that of a coach or mentor, encouraging exploration without the bounds of a final test or assessment.

● Social Learning and Collaboration: Help students to share their learning and projects with the social media world outside of their friends. Encourage ways to use social platforms for feedback and collaboration.

● Share Your Voice, Share Your Story: I am a firm believer in sharing your story, your reflections, your journey and this is something that we can also cultivate in students. Help students to document their learning, reflect, and share with the world continuously. (Also see my previous posts: The Share Your Voice Challenge, and Part 2.)

● Always Be Learning: Going beyond the due date also helps students to become lifelong learners. Still curious about a topic? They can dig deeper into the parts that interested them, the history, the problem-solving, another question. Help students learn how to learn and cultivate this skill throughout the learning process and beyond.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 16 Take it One Step at a Time Now, don’t misunderstand me. I am not living in a “pie in the sky,” world of education. I realize we still have to operate within the confines of the systems we have, but I do believe that we can meaningfully incorporate more dynamic learning strategies in our classrooms without ignoring all of those things we have to do and are required to learn in our classrooms. I don’t think it is a choice. We are doing students a disservice if we aren’t moving BEYOND traditional learning with the technology we now have within our grasp. Just small pushes against the walls, against the system, can bring about meaningful change.

One,

Small

Step at a Time

That’s all it takes, just one small step at a time. I’m not asking anyone to immerse their classrooms in these ideas overnight. I’m just asking that as educators, we consider the transformation that is possible and try new things. Even in small increments, we can make a big difference, and better prepare our students for the future.

Dynamic Learning is a way to put it all together. There are hundreds of new things to do in the classroom: Genius Hour, Maker Education, Project-Based Learning, Problem-Based Learning, Challenge-Based Learning, Robotics, Coding, Gamification, STEM, STEAM, lions and tigers, and bears, oh my! There are hundreds of ways to create a culture of innovation, to help students tap into creativity, to help students learn how to do things differently, and to break the bounds of the traditional classroom.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 17 Additional resources: ● Check out all of the Dynamic Learning blog posts and resources on Shake Up Learning: http://shakeup.link/dynamic ● More resources are coming soon in 2018, including a shared lesson plan database!

Take Challenge #3! Are you ready to facilitate a Dynamic Learning experience in 2018? Take the challenge to push the bounds of traditional learning this year!

What Are Add-Ons? Add-ons are developed by third-party users or companies and work inside our favorite G Suite tools, giving us added features and abilities that are not built into the native application.

How to Install Add-Ons Add-ons are easy to install. From the application (Slides, Docs, or Sheets), navigate to the Add-Ons menu and find “get add-ons.” Explore the add-on store, or search for the add-on you wish to install. Click the blue button to install.

For detailed directions for each application (Google Forms is a bit different), click here.

Google first introduced add-ons a few years ago, but we come a long way, baby! We now have add-ons for Docs, Sheets, Forms, AND Slides! So if you haven’t explored the world of add-ons, now is the time. Add-ons have become quite powerful, and I am super excited to see add-ons in my favorite G Suite tool, Google Slides!

Google Slides is much more than a presentation tool. It is like a Swiss Army knife for learning. My friend, Alice Keeler says, “I don’t use Google Slides to give information to students. I use it to GET information from students.”

Google Slides is a great way to create interactive learning experiences, and now with add-ons, we have even more tools at our disposal.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 19 Pear Deck Add-On for Slides Pear Deck is a formative assessment tool that allows you to add interactive questions, warmups, exit tickets, and even drawings to your Google Slides. Get the Pear Deck Add-On.

Watch this great little YouTube video to see the possibilities of Pear Deck.

The Pear Deck Sidebar In January 2017, Pear Deck released a big update to their add-on and improved the sidebar. Once you have installed the add-on, go to Add-Ons > Pear Deck > Open Pear Deck Sidebar. ● From the Sidebar, drop formative assessments and activity templates into your lesson or create interactive questions. ● Present with Pear Deck and watch your class transform.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 20 The New Slide Library The sidebar now gives you access to a library of templates created by educators to support learning objectives typically found at the beginning, middle and end of a class. Here you will find bell ringers, checks for understanding, exit tickets, and more. Simply drop one of these templates into your slide for instant engagement.

Beginning: Bell Ringer Example

Middle: Labeling Diagrams Example

5 Interactive Question Types in Pear Deck You have 5 options for how students can respond to your question. They can respond with: ● A Draggable(TM) ● A drawing ● Text ● A number ● Multiple Choice

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 22 1. A Draggable (Premium): Students respond by dragging an icon on an image of your choice. You can set up to 5 icons or lines for students to drag. (example - drag the map pins to the places listed.)

2. Drawing (Premium): Students respond by drawing on a canvas or background image (example - draw the path Magellan sailed)

4. Free Response Number: students respond by typing a number (example - how many coins do you think could fit in this jar)

Get 3 Months of Pear Deck for FREE! Pear Deck is a freemium tool, meaning there are features that are free and additional features are available in their premium version. Pear Deck has given Shake Up Learning readers a chance to upgrade! CLICK HERE to upgrade your Pear Deck account to premium and get three months for FREE! Only the first 250 users will get this free upgrade.

Pear Deck is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using add-ons. Be sure to enroll my course to learn about all of my favorite add-ons and how to use them in your class.

Take Challenge #4! Will you accept the Add-On Challenge? Try Pear Deck or one of the many choices in the Add-On store with your students this year!

In 2017, Google released a brand new program to help students learn valuable digital citizenship skills. The Be Internet Awesome program is a multifaceted program that includes a fun and free web-based game called Interland, and an educational curriculum to teach kids how to be safe and responsible explorers of the online world.

Let’s face it, teaching digital citizenship skills isn’t easy and often teachers don’t know the best practices to help students. The Be Internet Awesome program offers everything you need to help your students, including a free curriculum, the Interland game, aligned with the ISTE Standards for Students, and lots of other freebies.

Watch this video to see the program in action.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 26 Digital Citizenship Resources from Google: ● Interland Game (Play it yourself! You will see that there are skills that just about any grade level can use.) ● ISTE Aligned Curriculum ● Free Digital Citizenship training for teachers ● Free Be Internet Awesome poster ● Interland Certificate of Awesomeness and Badges ● Internaut paper craft activity ● Don’t forget that you can easily assign Interland in Google Classroom!

Take Challenge #5! How will you Be Internet Awesome in your classroom this year? Will you accept challenge number 5?

I love learning menus, and it is one of my favorite ways to incorporate student choice and to differentiate learning. And with digital tools like G Suite for Education, it’s super easy to make menus interactive, digital, and more dynamic! Digital Differentiation offers teachers and students many ways to reach all learners.

“…at its core, differentiated instruction means addressing ways in which students vary as learners.” – Carol Ann Tomlinson

What Are Learning Menus? IT’S ALL ABOUT CHOICE! Learning menus (aka choice boards) are a form of differentiated learning that gives students a menu or choice of learning activities. Learning menus and choice boards can be created in a variety of styles and mediums. They’ve been around for a long time and originated in a static, paper format. But with digital tools, we can bring the menus to life with interactivity and creation. Menus can be a simple list, a tic-tac-toe or bingo-style game, or get as creative and intricate as you like. Check out my Pinterest board for ideas.

Learning Menus Can Be Used with Any Age Group I have found that menus and choice boards tend to be more popular among elementary teachers, but I used them in my middle school classroom, and now I use them in professional learning workshops with adults. Any grade level can use learning menus!

Learning Menus Can Be Used in Any Subject Area Since learning menus are so flexible, they can easily be created and adapted for just about any subject area. So no excuses! Any teacher who is willing to try can make use of this student-centered strategy.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 28 Are Learning Menus Hyperdocs the Same Thing? No, but they could be part of a Hyperdoc assignment. I love Hyperdocs! But these two are not one in the same. Keep in mind the definition of learning menus stated above. It is simply a menu of choices from which students can choose. Student choice is the big idea behind learning menus and choice boards.

A Hyperdoc is a complete packaged assignment that also meets some additional criteria. A Hyperdoc doesn’t have to include choice, but it could. To learn more about Hyperdocs, visit their site or read the AMAZING book by Lisa Highfill, Sarah Landis, and Kelly Hilton.

Creating a Tic-Tac-Toe Learning Menu in Google Docs One easy way to dip your toes into the learning menu water is a Tic-Tac-Toe menu. A Tic-Tac-Toe can be used for anything from short activities to more long-term projects, both assessment FOR learning (formative) and assessment OF learning (summative).

Below is an example of a Novel Unit Tic-Tac-Toe menu that I created as a summative project. It was created in Google Docs, nothing fancy, just a table and some color. Depending on how you want to use, you can add links, rubrics, images, video and more. (Click here to use my blank tic-tac-toe template.)

CLICK HERE to use the Novel Study Tic-Tac-Toe template. On mobile? CLICK HERE to make a copy.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 30 Learning Menu Design Remember when you are creating a learning menu to align it with your learning goals! First, I use the middle square as my non-negotiable, the one activity that I want every student to complete. This could be reading an article, watching a video, or in this case, every student will write a summary and add it to a collaborative Google Slide deck where they will also add links to their other projects. Everything in one place!

Some teachers also make the middle square a free space where students can propose their own ideas to demonstrate their learning. LOVE THIS IDEA!

I had some students who would try to find the easiest or fastest way to complete the tasks. But if you pay attention to the learning design, you can design it so that it gives choice and flexible learning paths, not just an easy completion grade.

I use the color to guide the learning design. Because I use the middle square as a non-negotiable, I control how they make the tic-tac-toe just a little bit more. Every student will do the middle square and one from the blue and one from the yellow. In this summative example, students are mostly creating, but in the example below, you will see how it can also work for activities that guide the learning.

Below is a professional learning example that I designed for teaching Google Chrome. As a trainer, I typically have very mixed groups in my training sessions (multiple grade levels, subject areas, and tech savviness). I usually address general skills, and apps and extensions that are applicable across all grade levels and subject areas as a whole group.

Then I move into an activity like the Chrome PD Tic-Tac-Toe learning menu to allow teachers to dig deeper into their own subject areas and grade levels AND move at a pace that is comfortable for their level and learning style.

CLICK HERE to use my Chrome PD Tic-Tac-Toe template. On mobile? CLICK HERE to make a copy of the template.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 32 Other Types of Learning Menus As I said, a tic-tac-toe is just one type of menu. It happens to be a favorite of mine because they are easy to design and are not too overwhelming. But I have used many other types of menus, and I have been curating ideas on this Learning Menu Pinterest Board.

Digital Menu for Student Creation with Google Slides by Tommy Spall

Above is a Google Slide example of a learning menu that takes on the look of a restaurant menu from my friend, Tommy Spall. Follow him @TommySpall. (You can thank me later!) Click here to make a copy of Tommy’s template that includes linked slides to lots of Googley projects and room for you to make it your own. (If you are on mobile and having trouble with the template link, try this make a copy link.)

Another option is to make it a full out BINGO board, like in this example from my friend Amber Teamann and her collaborator Melinda Miller. (Follow them at @8Amber8 and @MMiller7571, and yes, you will thank me for this one, too!)

Amber and Melinda are both elementary school principals. They issued this BINGO PD Challenge to her teachers over the summer, and I thought it might inspire you with some other options for choice and challenges in your classroom or professional learning. You can learn more details about PD Bingo in Amber’s blog post.

PD Bingo

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 34 Using G Suite to Create Learning Menus The possibilities are truly endless! Consider all the ways you could use G Suite to create learning menus and the extended activities and links. Try thinking of the ways you could create menus using these G Suite tools:

● Google Docs ● Google Slides ● Google Drawings ● Google Sheets ● Google My Maps ● Google Sites

Take Challenge #6! How will you use learning menus to differentiate and give students choice in your classroom this year? Take the challenge and try one in 2018!

Part of your Dynamic Classroom Should Include Going Global. Bring the world to your students, and bring your students to the world. It’s also our job, as teachers, to give students a global audience. It is so easy now to allow students to publish their work online for the world.

It’s amazing how much this will change the quality of what they publish. As soon as they get their first comment, a shift has happened.

I’m on a bit of a mission! Everywhere I go, I ask this question, “How many of you allow your students to publish for a global audience?” The result…very few hands go up if any. The reality is this is a real-world skill and can be a very important and authentic learning experience for students of all ages. What’s holding you back?

Publishing for Authentic Audiences When I taught middle school writing, I would try to teach my kids how to write for different audiences, but they knew that I was the one that would be reading and assessing their work.

I can hear them now, “Why am I writing to an audience of NASA experts? Miss Bell, aren’t you the one reading it?” They never really took the idea of the audience seriously–that is until I gave them an authentic audience. The moment I allowed them to publish online, it gave new value to their work. Every student should be publishing their work online, not just writing–everything, and at every grade level!

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 36 Protecting Students v. Depriving Students The opportunities for students to publish their work online are almost endless. I still can’t believe how many school districts do not allow students to share, communicate, collaborate, and share their learning online.

Not too long ago, a senior English teacher contacted me about blogging in the classroom but needed a platform recommendation that could only be accessed by students and teachers inside the district. What’s the point of that? Seriously, seniors that aren’t allowed to share beyond their school? This is ludicrous! This is depriving students of authentic learning experiences that they need to be a part of the twenty-first-century workforce.

Please, do not misunderstand me, I believe protecting students is of the utmost importance, but depriving students of critical learning experiences in the process should not be the cost. There are many resources that allow students to, “Go global,” without any unnecessary risks to privacy and safety. If we just keep blocking everything, our students will never gain the valuable skills they need to navigate this ever-changing world.

Publishing for Intentional Audiences–Not Just Public Now publishing for the world can take many forms, and I think it’s important to note that we should be publishing for an intentional global audience. Yes, a Google Doc can be made public, but I think the audience piece of that is the most important. Just because it is public (or has a link) doesn’t mean that people will find it, and it definitely doesn’t guarantee that the intended audience will find it. The intended audience should not have to search to find student’s work. We need to be very intentional about where and how we publish, and to give the audience a way to comment, give feedback, or interact in some way. Depending on the type of content and intention, we need to publish with purpose. You could use a blog to allow students to publish lots of different types of content, allow for comments, and share that link with the audience.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 37 The hashtags #comments4Kids or #kidtweet offer a great way to share with like-minded educators on Twitter who could offer feedback or share with their own students. Publishing student videos to YouTube, including a good description and tags, will help students’ work be seen and discovered by audiences. Or maybe use a blog or website creators like Blogger, WordPress, Google Sites, Weebly, or Wix to have students share their work, even create online portfolios to showcase work throughout the year.

Not sure where to find your audience? Ask your PLN on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Let’s come together to find ways to make this work!

Tools for Publishing Online: ● Websites: Google Sites, Weebly, Wix ● YouTube ● FlipGrid ● SeeSaw ● Blogger ● Edublogs ● Social Media ● The options are limitless!

Every student should have the opportunity to publish for a global audience on a regular basis. Find ways to flatten the walls of your classroom and allow students to publish their work, their writing, their videos, their projects, their creations, or even a full e-portfolio online. This will change the quality of their work and help them build a positive online presence. Take Challenge #7! Are you up for the Global Publisher Challenge? Just think of one small way you can give you students a global audience and try it this year!

InsertLearning is a Chrome extension that lets you turn websites into interactive lessons. This extension is AWESOME!!!

InsertLearning will let you turn any webpage into an interactive lesson. You can highlight text, add sticky notes, insert questions, videos, or even a discussion all inside the webpage! How cool is that? Oh yeah, and you can then assign it to your students. WHOA!!!

The Toolbar

Assign: Assign this to your InsertLearning class or share to Google Classroom

Highlight: Highlight text on the page.

Sticky Notes: Insert sticky notes right on the page.

Questions: Insert free response or multiple choice questions on the page.

Discussion: Insert a discussion topic on the page.

3 Dots = More Options:

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 40 Two Ways to Create a Lesson 1. Click on the InsertLearning extension while on any web page you want to use in your lesson. 2. Find relevant, engaging content by searching their public library.

If that’s not enough, InsertLearning has a ton of features that make it the perfect companion for G Suite users. ● Chromebook compatible ● Sign-in with Google account ● Share directly to Google Classroom ● Enhance published Google Docs with videos and more ● Insert a YouTube video at the right moment in the text

Public Library of Lessons InsertLearning will also give you access to their public library of lessons that you can use in your classroom.

Get a FREE Month from Shake Up Learning! InsertLearning It is a freemium Chrome extension. At the time of writing this, the free version gives you five lessons and unlimited students. However, the folks over at InsertLearning have given us a special code so that you can get the full version for one full month for FREE!

Use code = shakeuplearning18

How to Redeem Your Code

By the way, InsertLearning was founded by two high school teachers who wanted to create a richer learning experience for their students. You gotta love that!

Want to learn more and get a tutorial? Take the 18 Challenges Online Course and I’ll walk you through!

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 41 Take Challenge #8! Which feature of InsertLearning will you try first? Take the challenge to become a Learning Blender and make your content truly interactive and engaging!

Do you listen to podcasts? I do! I love them. Podcasts are a great way to get PD on the go. You can listen in the car, on your run, during your workout, or whatever you prefer. I teamed up with my friend, Matt Miller, from DitchThatTextbook.com to create The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast.

What is a Podcast? In case you are new podcasts, let me explain. An audio podcast is like a recorded radio show that you can subscribe to using your favorite podcatcher or stream online. Think of it like talk radio on demand.

“Podcasts may be the new radio, but listening to these downloadable shows requires more effort than just twisting a dial. The rewards, however, are much richer: the latest in politics and culture, interviews with your favorite celebrities, serial dramas, and comedy aplenty.” - Wired Magazine

How to Listen to a Podcast? There are so many ways to listen to podcasts! For the purposes of this book, I will keep it simple. You can listen on your mobile device through a podcast application like Podcasts on iOS, Google Play on Android, or a host of other podcast applications. Here’s a handy guide from Digital Trends if you want to dig into the other options.

A lot of podcasts have their own websites and allow you to stream directly on the site. You may also find some podcasts are even available on YouTube.

Become a Podcast Learner Podcasting is on fire right now, and more shows are added every day. But the offering of podcasts for teachers is frankly, phenomenal! So whether you are new to podcasts, or a seasoned listener, there is always some new professional learning waiting for you.

● The 10 Minute Teacher with Vicki Davis - The ever-amazing Cool Cat Teacher, Vicki Davis hosts this daily podcast for teachers full of tips, ideas, and inspirational interviews.

● House of EdTech - Chris Nesi hosts this bi-monthly podcast discussing all things edtech, and interviewing edtech leaders.

● Cult of Pedagogy - Jennifer Gonzalez hosts this great podcast to discuss teaching strategies, classroom management, edtech and more.

● Teaching Keating - This super cool podcast is hosted by Weston and Molly Kieschnick, where they share a fascinating look at popular tv and movies with an educator’s perspective.

● Check This Out! - Brian Briggs and Ryan O'Donnell are always chatting and sharing edtech tips, troubleshooting, and sharing their real-world experiences in education.

● EduMatch Tweet & Talk - Sarah Thomas hosts this video podcast connecting educators across the globe.

● The Creative Classroom - This weekly podcast, hosted by John Spencer, explores the creative process and how to make it a reality in the classroom.

● Hack Learning - In this podcast, Mark Barnes, helps us explore ways to tackle problems in education.

● TeacherCast - Host, Jeff Bradbury, brings us topics on everything in the educational technology space and more!

● Angela Watson’s Truth for Teachers - In this weekly podcast, Angela Watson, gets to the heart of the matter to share encouragement and truth for educators.

● Modern Learners - Bruce Dixon and Will Richardson interview educational leaders discuss ways to effect change in your school.

BONUS: The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast Okay, call me biased, but I love doing this podcast with my buddy, Matt Miller. We have fun, and share all kinds of Google news, tips and tricks, and practical applications for the classroom. Follow us on Twitter @GTeacherTribe and check out the hashtag #gttribe for some great shares from our tribe!

Take Challenge #9! What new learning will you discover through podcasts this year? Pick one, pick three, pick them all and find what sparks your interest and become a podcast learner!

By now you have probably encountered some type of 360° photos and/or videos. We now have access to some amazing resources that allow our students to be full immersed in another location or world. These might be viewed on the computer or a mobile device, or through a virtual reality headset like Google Cardboard.

But the advancements have brought us to the next level, the ability to create in 360° without the need for a fancy and expensive camera. The quality of cameras on our mobile devices and the greatly improved creation apps make these much better than just a couple years ago. Let’s take a closer look at some of the possibilities.

Create Google Street Views With the Google Street View mobile apps, you can create directly from your mobile device. Watch the video below to see it in action.

Think of the possibilities! What kind of stories and experiences could your students create in 360°? Street View is just one possibility. Search the app store on your mobile device for other 360° creation apps.

Check out this folder of 360° photos from Barbers Hill ISD (in Mont Belvieu, Texas) for ideas.

Now, let’s take this a step further and add audio to our 360° experiences!

Tell a Story in 360° with Story Spheres

Story Spheres (beta) is a tool for enhancing 360° images with audio, to easily create interactive experiences. Check out the gallery to see some examples.

How to make a Story Sphere:

1. Log in, and click ‘CREATE’. 2. Enter the title and description. Read the terms and conditions before uploading content. Click ‘NEXT’. 3. Upload a 360 degree image in a .jpeg or .jpg format. Click ‘NEXT’. 4. Upload at least one audio file and place it inside the 3D space, using the positioning tool. Click ‘NEXT’. 5. If you would like to link to another Story Sphere select the title from the list, and place in the 3D space using the positioning tool. Click ‘NEXT’. 6. You’re done. Now you can share it, embed it into your site, or submit it to be apart of the public gallery.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 47 How to Use Story Spheres in the Classroom: ● Create their own field trip ● Share a story from home or vacation ● Tell a story about a particular local setting or location, or historical event ● Create a fictional story ● Retell a historical event ● Classroom tour ● Campus tour

Take Challenge #10! What do you think? Are you willing to accept the 360° challenge and give this a try in your classroom this year?

Don’t miss out on one of the BEST things about blended learning and managing assignments online! Save yourself valuable instructional time and that oh so elusive teacher sanity by packaging your assignments so that students have EVERYTHING they need in one place.

When you create an assignment online using your preferred tool, be that Google Classroom, Canvas, Edmodo, Blackboard, Google Docs, Google Sites, Hyperdocs, whatever…give learners ALL of the information online and in ONE place.

Give them detailed directions, the rubric, the due date, detail collaborative expectations, where and how to turn it in, what to do if they finish early, EVERYTHING you can think of that they might need or ask! This will save you so much time answering questions. It is also very handy for absent work and demanding parents.

This is also documentation, a record of what is planned for your classroom. You can fine-tune it and revise as you see fit throughout the assignment.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 49 TEN THINGS to include in your Digital Assignment Package: Note: Every assignment will not require all ten of these, but this is a starting point that can help you think through the process.

1. Give Each Assignment a Dedicated Number This is an excellent tip for Google Classroom users that I learned from Alice Keeler. However, I think this advice can be useful no matter what platform you use. Numbers make it easier to search, find, and reference assignments. (Did you know the keyboard shortcut control/command + F will help you find words or numbers on a page?) I prefer three digits with the hashtag = #001. This makes it easy to find and organize in Google Drive, Google Classroom, or whatever platform you prefer.

2. Include DETAILED Directions Be as specific as possible! Leave nothing to chance or assume, “They’ll figure it out!” Set your students up for success and let them know exactly what you expect out of this assignment. If there are several steps, be sure to label, “STEP 1, STEP 2, etc.” For long-term assignments, consider creating assignment packages for each checkpoint, so students know exactly what part is to be completed. What’s great with a digital assignment is that you can add more details to this as new questions arise!

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 50 3. Include Student-Friendly Learning Goals Be sure you connect the assignment back to student-friendly learning goals, so students understand the “why.” Helping students make the connection between their assignment and their learning is very critical.

4. Explain How the Assignment Will Be Assessed There should never be any surprises for students. Be sure they understand exactly what you expect and how it will be assessed. If you have a rubric, all the better! Attach or link to the rubric to make the expectations crystal clear! If no rubric, be sure to explain in the directions how they will be assessed.

5. Explain How Much Class Time Will Be Allotted Will students be given class time to complete the assignment? If so, how long? Are they expected to complete the assignment outside of class? Again, be a specific as possible, so there are no surprises like, “I thought we were working on it in class today.” (My students tried that one A LOT!)

6. Include the Due Date (and Time) This used to be one of my least favorite questions! I had to answer this question over and over again. If the due date is in the assignment package, you should never have to answer that question again. Be sure to not only include the date but the time. Due at the beginning of class or at the end of class should be explicit in your assignment package. If you are using Google Classroom, it will automagically add the due date to the student’s calendar. (BONUS: Guardian emails in Google Classroom will also allow parents to see due dates! Learn more about guardian emails here.)

7. Collaboration Guidelines Collaboration doesn’t magically happen just by saying you can work with a partner or a group. If students are collaborating with partners, groups, or outside of their class, be very specific about the guidelines and expectations. Who is responsible for turning in the work? Name a group leader and other roles as necessary. Also, explaining how they will be assessed individually will also be very important in collaborative activities.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 51 8. Turn In Process Depending on what digital tools and learning management system you use, this will vary. I try to be as explicit as possible, like don’t forget to click the “Mark as Done,” button in Google Classroom, or email the assignment to…, or move it into the folder on the device, etc. Don’t leave anything up to question! Use screenshots and links to how-to documents when necessary. This is especially important with a new system or at the beginning of the year when students are learning your processes.

9. What to Work on Next (Enrichment, Next Assignment, etc.) We all know that students work at different paces. Some complete assignments faster than others. You may already have an excellent way to manage and differentiate for this. I like to preemptively answer these inevitable questions online in the assignment package. There always seems to be a student that asks, “Can we play games when we finish?” I usually have some go-to enrichment activities ready or a flexible learning path that will lead to the next assignment. This is also a great time for students to work on Genius Hour projects.

10. Don’t Forget to Include ALL Attachments and Links Remember, the point of assignment packaging is getting everything in ONE place. Your teacher life will be so much easier if you provide all the attachments and/or links necessary for the assignment, like templates, rubrics, research websites, digital tools, etc.

This may seem like a lot of extra work, but just like everything, it will soon become a habit, and you can re-use your wording with minor adjustments in other assignments. But in the long run, I think you will see how much time this can save you! Time saved from answering the same questions over and over again and time saved explaining assignments to those who were absent.

̧ Put a Bow on It! There’s Your Assignment Package! TIP: Save the text of your assignment packages in Google Keep or a Google Doc! This can serve as a template that you can copy and paste, and save you time in the future.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 53 Google Classroom is just one way to package your assignments. You could easily include all of this information and attachments on other platforms like Canvas, Schoology, etc. You could also package your assignment in a Google Doc, Google Slide, or other online file and simply link to the “attachments.” It doesn’t have to be rocket science.

Related blog post: How to Package Your Digital Assignments

Take Challenge #11! Take the challenge to become a Digital Assignment Master in 2018! These minor tweaks will save you time and frustration!

Did you know that Google Earth has been around for more than 16 years? That just seems crazy. The first time I saw it, it totally blew my mind. And I did what almost everyone did the first time you look at Google Earth; I went searching for my house!

With Google Earth at our fingertips, we can take our students on a journey across the globe, and do it with satellite precision. In 2017, Google Earth took a big leap forward with the NEW Google Earth, a completely web-based, high-definition experience. We no longer need special plugins or file types to experience the wonder of this great big home we call Earth!

So if you haven’t experienced the NEW Google Earth, now is the time to take a deep dive and look for connections to your classroom. No matter what you teach, I believe you can find applications for every grade level and subject area.

To experience the NEW Google Earth for yourself, go to www.google.com/earth, and take a moment to click around, zoom in, zoom out, search, and go find your house. You know you’re dying to!

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 55 Here’s a screenshot of my neck of the woods, Dallas, Texas. (Tip: To go into 3D mode (where available), hold the shift key as you move your mouse.) Notice the menu options on the left.

The Google Earth Menu

Three lines: This will take you to your account menu, settings, etc.

Search: Search Google Earth for anything that interests you. You can search by keyword, address, coordinates, country...try anything!

Voyager: Voyager will help you discover collections, interactive stories, and special topics. There’s even an education section!

I’m Feeling Lucky: Roll the dice and randomly discover someplace new!

Bookmarks: Anywhere you see the bookmark icon, you can click to add to “your places,” and access right here in the menu.

Share: Grab a link to the location, share on social media, or even share to Google Classroom and add to an assignment.

Key features of the NEW Google Earth: ● 3D Views of major cities ● Look at places in history, in literature, in the news, in popular culture. ● Cards pop up to the right to give you information and suggestions. ● Hold in shift key as you move your mouse for a flyover view. ● I’m feeling lucky: find new and interesting places.

Google Earth Educator Resources: ● https://www.google.com/earth/education/ ● Special Voyages to Check Out ○ Reading ABC’s from space ○ Trek Across the Galapagos ○ Wonders of the Ancient and Modern World ● Tour the World with the NEW Google Earth (Google Teacher Tribe Podcast) ● Ben Friesen’s New Google Earth resource page ● Follow the Google Earth Community ○ Google+ ○ YouTube ○ Facebook ○ Twitter ○ Google Earth blog

Take Challenge #12! How will you integrate the new Google Earth into your curriculum this year? Take the challenge and travel the globe with your students!

Did you know that you can manipulate the URL (web address) of certain G Suite file links? These little, “hacks,” come in handy! This makes it super easy to help other users make a copy of files, view, or even create a template.

If you are a G Suite user, you probably know that one of the best features is the ability to share and create shareable links of your Google files, like Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, etc. These URL hacks will only work for those who have access. So sharing as, “anyone with the link can view,” is typically recommended.

Get a Shareable Link: 1. Click on the blue share button 2. Then chose “get shareable link,” near the top right. 3. A special link will be generated with the default settings for your account. (Either anyone with the link can view, or anyone with the link in your domain is typical.)

Hack #1: Preview Link The preview link is an easy way to show a file that is view only and clutter-free, meaning the toolbars are not visible. This is great for parent information letters, flyers, newsletter, or a view only slideshow player.

Create a Preview Link: In the link to the file (Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Drawings), replace the word, “edit” with the word, “preview.”

Related blog post: Amazing Shortcut to Share a Preview

Hack #2: Make a Copy Link I like to call this one the FORCE a copy link. Have you ever shared something with another user, usually an adult, a teacher and they were supposed to make a copy and save to their Drive before editing? Only they forgot and started messing with your document! I have had this happen many times. With Google Classroom, we don’t have to worry so much about copies for students, so this one usually comes in handy when sharing files with colleagues.

Create a Make a Copy Link: In the link to the file (Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Drawings), replace the word, “edit” with the word, “copy.”

Related blog post: Force Users to Make a Copy of a Google Doc

Hack #3: Make a Template Link This one is my FAVE, and somewhat newly discovered. Make a copy is handy, but it has its drawbacks. You can’t see what you are making a copy of so sometimes you end up with files in your drive you don’t want.

This hack will let you create a link to a preview file that has a handy, “use template,” button! Templates make it easier to share learning activities, lesson plans, Hyperdocs, and more.

Create a Template Link: In the link to the file (Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Drawings), replace the word, “edit” with the word, “template/preview.”

Related blog post: Create G Suite Templates with this Mind-Blowing Hack

Want more? There are actually more little URL hacks that you can learn in my online course: 18 Challenges for Teachers in 2018.

Take Challenge #13! This simple challenge can save you time and it so convenient for many tasks! Take the challenge and hack a Google URL today!

In case you haven’t noticed, animated GIFs, those moving pictures that are almost like videos, are ruling the world. It’s not enough anymore to just have a cool image in your presentation; you need to engage them with a little animation. Better yet, GIFs offer an excellent way to show step sets to help teachers and students learn new skills!

In this challenge you will learn: 1. How to search for GIFs that have already been created, 2. How to insert GIFs in your G Suite files, and 3. How to create your own screencast GIFs.

What is a GIF? So you keep hearing the word GIF, but maybe you don’t know exactly what the word means. GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. GIFs are image files that are compressed to reduce transfer time. They can be animated or static, but these days most people think of the animated version when referring to GIFs. They essentially look like a short video (usually 15 seconds or less) that loops and contains no sound.

Many geeks like to argue about how to pronounce GIF. I’ll let you decide for yourself. I don’t have time to argue ;).

Find a GIF You can use the advanced search filter in Google images to find GIFs. 1. Go to images.google.com and enter your search terms 2. Click on the “tools” button 3. Under type, select “animated.”

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 62 Copy the Image Address of the GIF Locate the URL (or Image Address as it’s called in Chrome) of the GIF you wish to use. Simply right-click to copy the image address. (Note: this will vary in other browsers, but you should be using Chrome anyway!)

Insert By URL in Docs, Slides, Sheets, Drawings, etc. The only way to get the animation to work is to insert by URL. 1. Inside your file, go to the Insert menu. 2. Click Image 3. Click By URL 4. Copy and paste the image address you copied above. 5. Click Select to insert the image. 6. Voila!

How to Create Screencast GIFs One of the most common questions I receive is how I make the screencast GIFs that I use on the blog, so I’m sharing how I create them, including a video tutorial.

What is a Screencast GIF? So take the idea of an animated GIF and combine it with a screencast! This allows you to demonstrate where to click or how to complete short tasks on your device. I use these frequently on the blog.

I use screencast GIFs to show how-to steps on my blog and in my presentations. Videos are great, but a GIF is like a short video that loops so even if you don’t catch it the first time, you can easily follow along and try it for yourself. This is, of course, a great strategy for helping students understand directions for assignments, a quick review of steps, like how to turn in an assignment in Google Classroom. Student-created GIFs are also fun, and a great way for students to show what they know and teach others.

How to Make Screencast GIFs There are several tools available for taking screenshots, creating screencast videos, and creating animated GIF screencasts. I create these all the time and find they are particularly useful for showing students and teachers how-to complete short tasks or use features in your favorite applications. I’m sharing my favorite screencast GIF tool, Gyazo, in this post. Please feel free to share your favorites in the comments below this post.

Gyazo GIF I use Gyazo GIF for most of the screencast GIFs that I create. It’s easy to use. It’s free, and it allows me to select just the part of the screen I need to use.

“Gyazo is an open source and free screenshot program for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The program allows users to create screenshots and uploads them directly to the cloud, producing a unique URL to the screenshot. The program’s name “Gyazo” is a pun on the Japanese word for image, gazō(画像).”

It’s important to note that there are two versions of Gyazo, regular Gyazo for screenshots and Gyazo GIF. Gyazo GIF requires a download and installation, but it is FREE and cross-platform. (Please note: Gyazo GIF is NOT available for Chromebooks. Suggestions for Chromebooks can be found at the bottom of this post.)

1. Install Gyazo GIF from the Gyazo homepage.

2. Once installed, launch the application. Your cursor will turn into cross-hairs. You can click and drag to select the portion of your screen you wish to record.

The recording will start automatically, so you will need to be ready to perform the task on screen immediately. The FREE version allows you to record up to 7 seconds; the pro version allows up to 60 seconds.

3. Once the recording is completed, your browser will automatically open a new browser window with your newly created animated GIF. Here you can grab the direct GIF link and copy and paste it into your project (insert by URL). You can also create a Gyazo account and save your GIFs to the web.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 65 Other Options for Screencast GIFs There are many other tools for screencast GIFs. ● GIPHY Capture ● Screencastify Premium (Chromebook compatible) ● TechSmith Snagit (desktop version) ● Gif Screen Recorder ● Recordit

Related blog posts: ● How to Insert Super Cool GIFs in Google Docs and Slides ● How to Create Screencast GIFs

Take Challenge #14! So are you ready to take the GIF challenge? If you have never tried to use them in your G Suite files, give it a whirl! If you want to kick things up a notch, create your own! Oh, and btw there are even more GIF ideas in my online course, just sayin’...

Bring the fun of Jimmy Fallon into your Classroom! I’m a big fan of Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show, and if you have attended one of my workshops, there is a good chance I found a way to use a Jimmy Fallon video or game during our time together. Engaging students is a challenge, to say the least, and let me tell you that engaging adults is not so easy either! But guess who never fails to engage his audience? Jimmy Fallon. So why not bring a little of the Fallon brilliance into the classroom?

I absolutely love the games that Jimmy plays with his guests, and the more I watch, the more ideas I get for translating this into the classroom.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 67 Teach Like The Tonight Show with the Word Sneak Game Word Sneak works like this: Students work in partners. (It really needs to be students working in pairs, no bigger.) Each partner is given a list of words that they must work into a natural conversation. Each partner takes turns, going in the order of the list and trying to work the words into a casual conversation as seamlessly as possible.

Below is just one of the many examples of Word Sneak on The Tonight Show that you can find on YouTube. This one does happen to be my favorite with Breaking Bad star, Bryan Cranston. (Note: be sure to review the content of the Word Sneak videos before showing to your class to ensure it is appropriate for their grade level.)

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 68 Word Sneak + Google Chrome Vocabulary One of the ways I have used Word Sneak with my teachers is as a vocabulary pre-assessment, including a fun pre-assessment game for Google Chrome. You know I like to put my own spin on things, so I work in some random words and pop culture references to keep it from being too dry. Below is my word list for the I love to watch Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show!

Directions: With your partner, start a conversation and try to “sneak” these words in casually, use them correctly, AND in order! Take turns working your words into the conversation.

Partner A: ● GAFE ● Incognito Window ● Google Groups ● Chrome Profile ● Sombrero ● Control-T ● Chrome Extension

Partner B: ● Hot Dogs ● GEG ● Bookmarks Bar ● Chrome App ● Kim Kardashian ● Pinned Tabs ● Omnibox

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 69 Suggestions for Word Sneak Implementation: Try to mix it up: If you just use the regular vocabulary that is part of your unit of study, this game could fall flat. Add some fun pop culture references, or celebrities to help students make their conversation funny and engaging.

Share the word list paperlessly: I used to print out slips of paper with the word lists for each partner so each person could only see THEIR list. That’s fine and does add a little mystery to the conversation, but I discovered that it wasn’t too revealing just to post the words on a slide or web page would everyone could see at the same time. I don’t like using paper, so this has been the best option for me.

Keep the list short and sweet: If the list is too long, it will become too time-consuming and laborious to keep the conversation going.

The Internet Pop Quiz Jimmy uses The Internet Pop Quiz as a way to get to know his guests. It’s usually something recorded behind the scenes and not on stage. This game is a fun way to break the ice and get to know your students. This is a game probably best for the secondary classroom and adults, although I’m sure it could be adapted for the younger grades as well. I use this game in workshops and add my special spin on things. Instead of just recording a video, I have teachers answer their pop quiz questions on Google Slides. The slides can then be shared with the group and, of course, they learn some new Google Slides skills along the way.

Below is an example of The Internet Pop Quiz with Joe Manganiello:

The Internet Pop Quiz (Teacher Edition) I kept some of the questions from Jimmy’s various versions, but I also put a little teacher twist on a few. I think you will see how easy you can adapt these for your classroom.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 71 Here are my Internet Pop Quiz questions: ● What’s the last thing you ordered online? ● What’s your record for the most episodes of a TV show watched in one sitting? ● What’s your most-used app? ● What’s your most-used app in the classroom? ● What’s your phone wallpaper? ● Who’s the last person you texted? ● What’s the weirdest tweet in your Twitter feed right now? ● What’s the best selfie or pet pic you’ve taken recently? ● Who’s your fave person to follow on Twitter or Instagram right now? ● What would you want to experience in virtual reality? ● Who is the most unexpected or surprising celebrity that you follow? ● Camera roll roulette! Rules: open your camera roll, scroll for 3 seconds, then tap on a photo to show your partner.

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 72 Take the Internet Pop Quiz (and Share!) As a fun little bonus, I’d love to get to know the Shake Up Learning readers a little bit better. Take the quiz using my Google Slides template (on mobile? make a copy instead), and feel free to have fun with it and spice it up–Shake Things Up!!

STEP 1: Take the Quiz using the Google Slides template.

STEP 2: Share in the Shake Up Learning Facebook group or on social media using the #18Challenges hashtag! (Don’t forget to make your slides public or anyone with the link!)

STEP 3: Read and respond to your colleagues, and connect with new people.

Additional Resources: ● Google Chrome Word Sneak ● Internet Pop Quiz (Teacher Edition) ● Hashtag Challenge: #DLDayRap

My Answers to The Internet Pop Quiz! Get to know me a little bit as well! My Answers to The Internet Pop Quiz are here. You can also leave me a comment in Google Slides if you want.

Take Challenge #15! So are you up for the Teach Like Tonight Show Challenge? Try one of these ideas in your classroom in 2018. Plus, you know I always have even more ideas to share in the online course. Fallon is so much fun!

What is Visual Thinking? According to Xplaner, the visual thinking company, “Visual thinking is a way to organize your thoughts and improve your ability to think and communicate. It’s a great way to convey complex or potentially confusing information.

It’s also about using tools — like pen and paper, index cards and software tools — to externalize your internal thinking processes, making them more clear, explicit and actionable.” - Xplaner.com

Bottom line, visual thinking helps students process and retain information as they learn. By combining verbal/textual information with images, students can connect learning in new ways. (Learn more about the power of images and text on the brain or dual coding.)

G Suite is a great place to begin with visual thinking in the classroom. Google Drawings and Google Slides are a natural fit for combining text with visuals to create. There are so many ways to use these tools as individual projects and collaborative endeavors as well.

If you have never played with Google Drawings, I encourage you to take a gander. At first glance, it looks rather plain, but it is a powerhouse tool. In fact, the more you learn about Drawings, the more you realize that it is very much like Google Slides, but with one canvas instead of deck of canvases (slides).

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 74 Google Drawings, at its heart, is an image creation tool. The blank canvas you see before you with the lightly checkered background is ready for you and your students to create some digital products. Think of it as a digital poster board that you can, “cut and paste,” to add images, text, lines, links, and more. To learn more about Google Drawings, click here.

Using Google Drawings and Slides for Visual Thinking

Annotate on Images You can add images in Google Drawings, just like any other G Suite tool, go to the Insert menu or click and drag images onto your canvas.

Then you can annotate by adding text boxes, labels, speech bubbles, whatever the image needs to tell the story visually.

Below is an example from DitchThatTextbook:

Additional resources: ● Visual Thinking with Google Drawings (Episode 23 of The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast) ● Example from DitchThatTextbook: Tres de Mayo painting annotation ● Photo comic strips: Mike Petty’s site on photo comic strips ● Icons for Infographics: The Noun Project ● 15 free graphic organizer templates ● Sylvia Duckworth’s book: Sketchnotes for Educators

Take Challenge #16! Are you up for the visual thinking challenge? Think of ways you can incorporate one of these ideas into your lesson plans in 2018.

I started blogging in 2014 and have created tons of free resources and downloads for educators, including free ebooks like this one. Until now, you have to fill out a form with your email address, check your email and verify, then you would finally get the link to your free download. That’s too many steps for you!

Well, that’s all changing in 2018. I’m introducing the Shake Up Learning Members-Only Library, a free login to access ALL of the free resources on my website and blog in ONE place! No more forms. No more checking emails.

If this sounds good to you, and you haven’t already joined, take a moment to create your free account and access all of these fabulous resources on one page:

● The Guide to Google Drive Sharing ● Google Keep Cheat Sheet ● The Google Cheat Sheets ebook ● 18 Challenges for Teachers to Try in 2018 ● 17 Things for Teacher to Try in 2017 ● The Complete Guide to Google Certifications

© Shake Up Learning, LLC 2018, all rights reserved 77 ● How to Become a Google Certified Trainer ebook ● Google Certified Educator Level 1 Capacity Matrix ● How to Pass the Google Certified Educator Exams ● And more coming soon!!!

I’ve added it up, and at the time of writing this book, that’s over 250 pages of free, downloadable content, ideas, links, how-tos, and inspiration for your classroom!

Take Challenge #17! Take the challenge and join the club! CLICK HERE to create your account and become an official member of Shake Up Learning!

I am #superexcited to announce my new book! No, I’m not talking about this little ebook. I have a new book coming out in the spring of 2018 with Dave Burgess Consulting, titled, “Shake Up Learning.”

Book Description: Technology is not a magic solution for education. It is an opportunity! An opportunity to shake things up, to connect and grow, and to create dynamic learning experiences for our students!

In this book, you will learn practical strategies to help move your classroom from static teaching to dynamic learning? This book will guide you through the entire process, from purposeful planning to fearless implementation, with helpful tips and tricks along the way. Be dynamic and shake up learning in your classroom this year.

GET THE SHAKE UP LEARNING BOOK!

Take Challenge #18! You may have to wait a few months to meet this new challenge since the book will not be out until spring, but I hope if you have come this far with me, you will want to read what I have in store. Full details about my book, how to purchase, access to the bonus material, the free lesson plan database, and the companion course, can all be found here: http://shakeuplearningbook.com.

(If you are reading this early in 2018, join my waitlist to be notified about the official release date and how you can win a free copy!)

Please share with me and the Shake Up Learning community using the #18challenges hashtag, or in the Shake Up Learning Facebook Group. We would love to see how you are progressing through all of the challenges during 2018.

Love this FREE book?

Share your love on social media with the hashtag #18challenges, or email this link to a teacher friend: http://shakeup.link/18challenges.

JOIN THE 18 CHALLENGES ONLINE COURSE!

There is A LOT of content in this book, but guess what? I have even more to share with you in my online course. So if you want to go deeper and get video tutorials to walk you through each challenge, then ENROLL TODAY!

It is completely self-paced so you can learn whenever you want throughout the year! Oh, and did I mention the badges? Join the course to take the challenge and submit evidence to claim all 18 badges and show them off to your administrators and on your blog or website.

Inside the course: ● 18 learning modules for each of the 18 Challenges ● Earn a badge for each challenge ● Video-based content ● Self-paced ● Download videos for offline viewing ● Tons of extra resources, downloads, and curated content ● Professional Learning Certificate for 12 hours of credit!

Are you in? CLICK HERE to Enroll in the 18 Challenges Online Course!

Bulk Pricing Available: Bulk pricing available to meet the needs for campus and school implementation. PO’s are accepted. (Email me for more info: Kasey[at]ShakeUpLearning.com)

Kasey Bell is part sparkling smile, part witty personality and a whole heap of passion as big as a Texas--go big or go home, y’all! As a former middle school teacher with nearly fifteen years in education, Kasey has made it her mission to be a disruptor of the boring and to push the bounds of traditional teaching and learning.

Through teacher empowering publications and award-winning educational resources at ShakeUpLearning.com, learner-driven workshops and presentations, and co-hosting The Google Teacher Tribe weekly podcast, Kasey proves why we should never settle for the static and boring when it comes to bringing out the very best in our students, and we should always strive to Shake Up Learning!

● International Speaker and Presenter ● Author of Shake Up Learning: Practical Ideas to Move Learning from Static to Dynamic ● Co-host of The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast ● Google Certified Innovator ● Google Certified Trainer ● Award-winning blogger and social media influencer

ShakeUpLearning.com provides teachers and educators with easy to understand, use-tomorrow digital learning resources, technology tips and tricks, in-depth e-courses, books, resources, cheat sheets, blog publications, and podcasts. Subscribe to Shake Up Learning to get the latest resources in your inbox!

To contact Kasey about speaking at your event, visit www.shakeuplearning.com/work-with-me/.